Also called 86, Eighty-sixed
To 86 an item is to take it off the menu mid-service because it has run out or can no longer be served. The term is kitchen shorthand, called out so front of house stops selling it immediately.
The cost of a late 86 is a guest who has already ordered. Marking an item unavailable in the POS the moment the kitchen calls it is what stops that happening.
Frequent 86s on the same item are a par-level problem rather than a kitchen problem.
Related terms
MinimalPOS handles orders, kitchen, billing and reporting in one flow.